Rapid and discriminative detection of nitro aromatic compounds with high sensitivity using two zinc MOFs synthesized through a temperature-modulated method

• Published in: Journal of materials chemistry. A, Materials for energy and sustainability Vol. 3; no. 44; pp. 22369 - 22376
• Main Authors: Wan, Xiu-Yan, Jiang, Fei-Long, Liu, Cai-Ping, Zhou, Kang, Chen, Lian, Gai, Yan-Li, Yang, Yan, Hong, Mao-Chun
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: 01.11.2015
• Subjects: Aromatic compounds; Emission; Fluorescence; Ligands; Modulation; Quenching (cooling); Real time; Zinc
• ISSN: 2050-7488; 2050-7496
• DOI: 10.1039/c5ta04552e

Two 3D MOFs (1 and 2) have been solvothermally synthesized by introducing a pi -electron conjugated fluorescent aromatic polycarboxylate ligand under the modulation of reaction temperature. Intriguingly, complex 2 shows an unusual fluorescence thermochromism. Upon decreasing the temperature, the emission bands exhibit different variation behaviors which result in dramatic changes of the emission color. The fluorescence of 1 and 2 dispersed in DMF (N,N-dimethylformamide) can be selectively and sensitively quenched by using nitro aromatic compounds (NACs) with a fast response time of just 10 s, indicating that 1 and 2 are potential real-time response candidates for detecting NACs. More interestingly, when DNP (2,4-dinitrophenol) and PNA (p-nitroaniline) are introduced, distinctive fluorescence signals, which can discriminate them from other NACs, are observed, making 1 and 2 the rare materials that can distinguish different nitro aromatic molecules.